Eskom repairing flood-damaged line

Johannesburg - South African power utility Eskom said on Thursday a transmission line from the Cahora Bassa dam in neighbouring Mozambique had been damaged by flooding and was being repaired.

Eskom said in a statement that HCB, the Cahora Bassa operator, was “working to repair the line and Eskom is co-operating with HCB to restore the line to full capacity as soon as possible.”

The damage has reduced the capacity available from Cahora Bassa to 650 megawatts from 1,300 MW.

Eskom has been struggling to keep the lights on in Africa's largest economy amid tight supplies.

The state-run utility said earlier that construction of the Medupi power plant, delayed by a labour protest, had not restarted as expected on Thursday but normal operations should be restored soon. - Reuters